No buzzer beater miracles in what Hamilton calls "the worst"

by Bill from Tampa

The good news for Florida State, with a noon tip off against Wake Forest at least the team was able to get back to Tallahassee before dark.

If you can't shoot, can't rebound, can't avoid turnovers, you can't win.

In the case of FSU, they couldn't even compete as the Demon Deacons took an early lead and demolished the Seminoles 71-46.

The 'Noles never led and trailed by as much as 26 points, 66-40.

Florida State shot relatively well in the first half, connecting on 42% of their shots, but trailed 34-26 at the break. But the second half was a different story with the 'Noles only shooting 25%.

Free throw shooting was equally as bad with FSU just 53% from the stripe in the second period. When FSU's second best free throw shooter, Okaro White, missed three of four attempts you knew the 'Noles were in trouble on the road.

If shooting the ball wasn't bad enough, there was the rebounding or lack thereof. The Seminoles, the worst rebounding team in the ACC, was crushed on the boards 45-25. It led to 19 second chance points for the Deacons. Florida State had just one second chance point.

It was a major factor in the 32 points scored in the paint compared to just 16 for FSU.

Defensively the 'Noles once again did not come close to playing Hamilton's desired junkyard defense, allowing the Deacons to shoot 49% for the game.

And then there were the 17 turnovers, another issue that has plagued Leonard Hamilton's team this season.

It would be one thing to say it was youth with five freshmen on the squad. But the team is 23 games into the schedule and just got spanked by a team with seven freshmen on its roster.

A disappointed, very disappointed, Hamilton said after the game, "Frankly, this was the worst performance we have ever had since we have been at Florida State."

"This team has a hard time staying focused," Hamilton added. "The same words that motivated teams in the past have not worked on this team."

"We have been consistently inconsistent all year."

That is not entirely accurate. In the last seven games, the Seminoles followed a loss with a win. All of the four losses were blowouts. All three of the victories were buzzer beaters by Michael Snaer.

Both the blowouts and the last second wins trouble Hamilton. It's obvious why the blowouts would bother anyon,e including Hamilton. The close calls Hamilton feels are indicative of other problems.

"We seem to have an inability to stick with the game plan .... We are going from playing well to not even playing bad but playing terrible. There is no in between."

Something is holding us back emotionally," Hamilton said.

White and Snaer were the only Seminoles in double figures with 13 points each.

Wake Forest out four players in double digits led by Travis McKie's 15 points.

With the loss that Hamilton called embarrassing, FSU falls to 13-10, 5-5.

The task to right the ship does not get any easier with the Seminoles hosting what will probably be a top five ranked Miami Hurricane team after the Canes easily knocked off North Carolina 87-61.

Tip off is Wednesday night at 7:00 PM.